Chemical Vapor Deposition/Chemical Vapor Infiltration (CVD/CVI) processing entails a high capital investment cost. Combining Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) processing of mesophase or other high char-yield pitches with CVD/CVI processing further increases capital costs. RTM processing also entails significant raw material costs, due to the expensive nature of the high char-yield pitches typically used in RTM processing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,081 (Ting et al.) discloses a method for making a carbon-carbon composite that includes densification of the preform using pitch infiltration which may also include a combination of CVD with pitch infiltration. See e.g. lines 55-65 in column 4 of the Ting et al. patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,160 B1 (Murdie et al.) discloses a carbon-carbon composite made from densified carbon foam which includes CVD/CVI processing and VPI pitch infiltration.
US 2006/0244165 A1 (Huang) discloses manufacturing carbon fiber reinforced ceramics as brake discs. The Huang process involves densification steps including CVD/CVI as well as pitch infiltration in which the preform is placed into a vacuum chamber with pitch introduced into the chamber (i.e., VPI).